Posted on 01/04/2007 9:54:05 AM PST by blam
Somali militia group 'surrounded'
Mogadishu is full of weapons and people are reluctant to disarm
Somali troops backed by Ethiopian forces are fighting about 600 Islamist militiamen in the south of the country, says an interim government spokesman. Abdirahman Dinari told the BBC soldiers had surrounded the militia group near the Kenyan border - which has been reinforced to stop their escape.
US naval forces are deployed off the Somali coast to prevent leaders of the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) escaping.
The UIC controlled much of Somalia until retreating over the past 10 days.
Kenya's government has shut its border with Somalia, despite criticism from the United Nations' refugee agency.
Foreign Minister Raphael Tuju said he believed that combatants were sending their families into Kenya posing as refugees and therefore the country had every right to defend its borders.
Meanwhile, talks are continuing across the region to try to secure an African Union peacekeeping force for Somalia.
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer have been in Ethiopia meeting Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.
Ms Frazer is expected for high level discussions with African leaders and other international representatives in Nairobi on Friday.
In other developments:
* The US is to provide more than $16m in aid to Somalia as an "initial response" to its humanitarian needs arising from the recent conflict
* A three-day government disarmament exercise in the capital, Mogadishu, has had little success, raising fears of renewed instability
* In Mogadishu, new judges, including one woman, are sworn in
* Interim Interior Minister Hussein Aideed claims there are some 3,500 Islamist fighters still hiding in the capital, warning they are "likely to destabilise the security of the city"
* Three people have been seriously injured in a rocket attack on a truck in Mogadishu.
Weapons demand
Interim Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Ghedi is reported to have said forcible disarmament will begin in Mogadishu at the weekend.
Few residents have responded to a call to disarm and the demand for AK-47 rifles, hand grenades and land mines has risen. In a city of two million people, there are an estimated one million weapons.
The BBC's Mohammed Olad Hassan in the capital says although calm has returned, tension is high and people fear anarchy may return to Mogadishu.
Power vacuum threat
Ethiopia sent heavily armed troops into Somalia to back up forces loyal to the transitional government after accusing the UIC of having links with al-Qaeda.
SOMALIA IN NUMBERS
* Ethiopia troops: 8,000-15,000
* Government troops: 10,000
* Islamists: 600 near Kenyan border; 3,500 around Mogadishu
* Recently displaced: 30,000
* Refugees in Kenya: 160,000
* Estimated numbers
Sources: Somali government, UN, correspondents
They swept the Islamist militias from areas they had controlled for six months, but the Islamists said their retreat was tactical and threatened to launch an insurgency.
Ethiopia's prime minister has made it clear he wants to withdraw his troops within the next few weeks.
The Ethiopians want international peacekeepers to be deployed to prevent a vacuum which would allow the re-emergence of former warlords who controlled the country since 1991.
Uganda has offered to commit 1,000 troops to a 8,000-strong regional peace force.
Mr Museveni says he has troops trained and ready for this role, once his country's parliament gives its approval.
The AU commissioner for peace and security said he hoped other African countries would follow suit.
"I still hope that key AU members will be glad to associate their name and the name of their country in what I believe is the most important peace undertaking in the recent history of Africa," Said Djinnit told the BBC's Network Africa programme.
BBC is deeply saddened.
It is usually a good plan to pick the winning side.
Isn't this wonderful! When was the last time the Ethiopians won a war? Maybe after they kick ass in Somalia they'd care to help us in Iraq.
Nothing like a little "duck blind" diplomacy...
They will be saved at the last moment by the 12th IMAM!.........
Interesting. The article doesn't seem to comment on it, but the map shows a "U.S. Navy patrol" off the coast. Presumably keeping any more of the terrorists from leaving on small fishing boats. Or at least so I hope.
Some terrorists fled earlier by boat, but were shot out of the water when they tried to come ashore on the other side of the gulf, I think in Aden.
Is he Tujuish?.......
BBC is deeply saddened.
They may not have won then, but they gave Mussolini a rough time.
Imagine all those islamorons being defeated by Tujus........
kill em.
No Shiite?.....
I realize this is just how things played out---but it does seem like a decent strategy to have the Islamonazi-types congregate in a disorganized country with little support and then corner them there. A bit like the old "roach motel" idea.
Agencies
Thursday January 4, 2007
Guardian Unlimited (UK)
US forces are being deployed off the coast of Somalia to prevent Islamists with suspected terrorist links from fleeing the country, it was reported today.
The move follows two weeks of fighting, which began when Somali government troops, backed by Ethiopia, defeated the Somali Council of Islamic Courts. The SCIC had controlled the country since June.
"We would be concerned that no leaders who were members of the Islamic Courts, which have ties to terrorist organisations, including al-Qaida, are allowed to flee and leave Somalia," a US government spokesman said.
Before the latest fighting, the US said the SCIC was controlled by a cell of al-Qaida operatives - a charge denied by the Islamist organisation. The head of the council, Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, is considered to be an extremist by the UN and US.
US warships are stationed off the Somalian coast and the Horn of Africa, blocking possible escape routes.
Kenya has also sealed its border and strengthened troop numbers to protect itself from any overspill from the conflict between retreating Islamist fighters and government forces.
Having deserted their final stronghold on Monday after two weeks of war, Islamists pledged to fight on using guerrilla tactics. Last June, they swept through Somalia, driving out warlords and taking control of much of the south of the country.
Following a period of relative stability, anarchy is returning to the capital, Mogadishu.
More than 3,500 Islamists are believed to remain in hiding in the city and surrounding area, while gunmen loyal to the warlords driven out in June have reappeared.
Reports have also emerged of militiamen taking positions at checkpoints and using them to rob, rape and murder civilians. Earlier today, gunmen fired a rocket at an oil tanker truck near Mogadishu, wounding three people.
The government is now attempting to install itself in the capital.
Thursday January 4, 2007 6:01 PM
CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - An Islamic militant Web site said Thursday that Osama bin Laden's deputy would soon release a new message calling for Muslims to support Islamic guerrillas in Somalia.
The Web site did not specify when the message from Ayman al-Zawahri, al-Qaida's No. 2, would be released, and it did not say whether it would be in video, audio or text form.
The announcement, displayed on a Web site frequently used by militants, carried the logo of al-Qaida's media production wing - al-Sahab - which usually releases videos.
``Rush in support of your brothers in Somalia,'' the banner quoted al-Zawahri as saying.
The announced message would be the first time al-Zawahri speaks out this year, after having boosted his media messages in 2006.
Islamic militants controlling the Somali capital of Mogadishu and much of the southern part of the country have been driven out by Ethiopian-backed government forces after more than six months in power. The Islamic movement retreated to the southern tip of Somalia and vowed to keep fighting, raising the specter of an Iraq-style guerrilla war.
Or maybe they should try the 'Statue of Liberty' that secured victory for Boise State.
Don't forget the "Hook & Ladder" play!...........
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